The Springfield

Harry Potter fans! If you love this tree (and you know you do), please cast your vote for it in our annual SABER tree decorating contest? $1 =1 vote and i am in it to win it! Proceeds go to the Shamokin Area Businesses for Economic Revitalization, a truly noble effort in breathing new life into this historic small town. We are doing big things here! https://www.paypal.com/donate/

Our holiday card on Market St (near Dunkin) looks great! Thanks to Janette Burhans for the design work, and the Northumberland County Council for the Arts & Humanities for doing such a great job of transforming that into a 4' x 8' card! I cropped the picture to include one of the "swags" being hung up along Independence St. There are simple ones like this one, and more intricate ones, each sponsored by local businesses. With the cards on Market St, the swags going up downtown..., windows being decorated all over, and the lights up Market St and Lincoln St and along the creek behind City Hall (Jen & Erik Seidel worked tirelessly on all these), the city is really coming alive with holiday spirit! Make sure to stop by the library to see Lisa's Harry Potter-themed xmas tree. Bring the kids so they can play "find the horcruxes" and enter to win the full 7-book set (provided by the library).

Thank you all *so* much for your support! We love you guys! We've been booking events for 2021 (and are having discussions and tours for 2022). If your event must be canceled because of covid restrictions, you'll receive a full refund of your deposit. This way you can start your planning without the risk of wasting money if these trying times continue.

Just a reminder that while current restrictions keep us from having in-house events (we're limited to 25 people, which includes staff), we ARE still available for off-site catering! Back yard gatherings, pavilion parties at Knoebel's, tent weddings & parties, etc. Visit the Pricing / Off-Site link on our web page: https://www.TheSpringfield.com And even though indoor events can't currently be held, please contact us to check out the hall for a future event. We do require a d...eposit to hold a date, but that deposit is *fully refundable* if we can't accommodate your event because of government restrictions on our business due to COVID. Stay safe, and we hope to see you soon!

Happy Independence Day! We hope to see you all out at the park today! Make sure you wander around town and support our wonderful businesses! Remember that Shamokin is suspending its open container ordinance from 7 pm - 11:59 pm tonight, and only on Arch St between Kehler Park & Market, and Independence St between Market & Shamokin. Glass containers are prohibited. It's not all day, and it's not everywhere! ... Please be responsible and practice all the anti-COVID things you've learned during the months of shut-down. Don't let the county slip back into a yellow phase!! (I'm sure I speak for all of our local businesses when I say "please, please, please!!") Wear masks when in public, and not sitting at a restaurant table to eat. It'll be hot, so paper ones will be more comfortable than cloth. We'll be selling FDA-approved paper masks at Kehler Park if anyone needs them (starting at 3 pm - one per customer). Try to maintain distance between your group and others when standing about. Wash your hands often and don't touch your faces. We'll have hand sanitizer available (we couldn't find unscented, so you'll be enjoying the lovely scents of lavender and peppermint), and alcohol wipes upon request if you'd rather use those. The chairs we're lending out for Music in the Park will be sprayed down with alcohol between uses, but it wouldn't hurt to bring your own sanitizing wipes for that and other untreated seats you may find yourself at. (for the future, look into chemical-free Norwex - many people are throwing virtual parties for them, demonstrating how well they work on viruses as well as normal dirt). #GoShamokin #SABER #FLAGS

As our 4th of July celebration approaches, we want to remind everyone of the safety measures that have been put in place for the city-sponsored displays. - Exc...lusion zones have been set up around the displays. Citizens are not permitted to sit, stand, walk, or watch, the displays from inside the zones. If the professionals setting off the displays see people inside the zones, they will ask them to move. If the exclusion zone is not cleared, the fireworks display WILL NOT begin. The exclusion zones are outlined with purple lines in the pictures below. - Please observe social distancing and wear a mask when you cannot maintain the recommended 6 ft from those around you. - Most residents should be able to view at least one display from their homes. - Parking in the downtown areas will be extremely limited beginning at 6:00pm. See more

Voting ends tomorrow! There have been paper ballots in many of the issues recently if you want to drop them off in person instead of voting online. Yesterday began round 2 of the online voting ("goods, places, & services" ended and "food & drink" began"). https://www.newsitem.com//article_e4d3bdc0-371e-567d-8b0b-

We'll have one of the concession stands at the park, 3 pm - 9 pm! Our menu will probably be: - Firecracker Chicken Meatball Sandwiches - Kielbasa (Kowalonek's) Grillers - Mini Pizzas on Carmelized Onion Naan Crusts... - Cheeseburger Sliders (our special way) - Onion Rings (thick-cut, beer-battered) - soft drinks & water We've also donated 30 camp chairs to Music in the Park, so with their existing picnic tables (and people who usually bring their own chairs) there should be ample seating. Come see us for some delicious treats and enjoy the music! https://m.facebook.com/MIPShamokinPA/ (ignore the "2020 cancelled" post pinned to the top of their feed - it's older news)

It's that time of year - The News Item's READER'S VOICE Awards! Help us keep the Silver awards you gave us last year! Please pick up a copy of today's paper (Saturday, June 13th) to get the nomination form (I don't remember if it will also be in other days' papers). Fill us in for Catering in the top section, and Wedding Venue in the lower section. Drop off your ballot at The News Item's office before the end of the business day on Wednesday, June 24th. ONLINE and MAIL-IN ...options a available! Go to this page, and click on the word "here" where the link is provided to vote online. https://www.newsitem.com//article_b8759186-a2f3-5b8f-8009- Make sure to fill in as many other categories as you can. Support your favorite local businesses!

The State has provided updated guidance for restaurants in the Green phase, including some guidance for event venues like ours. We'll do everything we can to minimize the effect on guests while still being in compliance and ensuring an environment that is as safe as possible. Of course, all this might go away entirely if the resolution passed by the legislature (to end the state of emergency) takes effect. Here are the important changes: - We are permitted to operate with ...indoor seating at 50% of our fire code capacity (including both guests and employees) - for us, that means a maximum of 120 guests. - Closing dance floors is "encouraged," not required. Therefore we will have a dance floor for anyone who desires one. - Private event spaces and wedding venues are *required* to "maintain a list of all guests in attendance including location of origin for each guest." For weddings, parties, reunions, etc., this list can be provided to us before the event and we'll make changes to the list later to reflect actual attendance. Funerals have a more spontaneous attendance, so we can put a sign-in sheet at the front to collect the information from guests as they enter. Here's the web page that provides the official guidance (the PDF from May 27th has been removed from the State's website): https://www.governor.pa.gov/c/restaurant-industry-guidance/

We're open! Call us to schedule your on-site event, or order off-site catering! COVID-19 Operations Northumberland County enters the Green phase of the governor's reopening plan on Friday, June 12, 2020. In this phase, restaurants (including us, until they provide guidance specific to venues) are permitted to operate with indoor seating at 50% of their fire code capacity - for us, that means 135 guests. Tables must be placed 6' apart, measured from the backs of seated gues...ts. Unfortunetly, dance floors are still prohibited in this phase. "Ceremonial" dances, such as the father-bride dance, can still take place, but we cannot provide a dance floor for general use. The Restaurant and Lodging Association of PA is working with the legislation to clarify some rules and change others (such as dancing). This does not prohibit entertainment such as a band or DJ. Many DJs can provide entertainment other than dance music, such as trivia and other games (Jeopardy, Family Feud, etc). As always, for events that do not include a band or DJ, we provide (free of charge) music via a Sirius XM business account. Here are links to the documents which provide the guidance under which we must operate: Order of the Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the Continued Reopening of the Commonwealth - May 27, 2020 (https://www.governor.pa.gov//20200527-TWW-green-phase-orde) Gov. Wolf: 12 More Counties Going Green on June 12 (https://www.governor.pa.gov//gov-wolf-12-more-counties-go/) Guidance for Businesses in the Restaurant Industry Permitted to Operate During the Covid-19 Disaster Emergency to Ensure the Safety and Health of Employees and the Public (https://www.governor.pa.gov//20200527-Restaurant-Industry-)

BIG news - we're getting a parking lot! We bought five empty lots, and tore down a house on a sixth (the two houses in the pic are no longer there), just half a block away from the hall. Coal Township has just granted us the Special Exception we needed to put in the retaining walls in the back and on the sides and move forward with the plans. Hopefully by this summer we'll have it ready for use, and next year (after giving all that fill time to settle) we'll have it paved.

We were downtown (Shamokin) giving away hot chocolate and hot cider as part of The Shamokin Christmas Festival, but when the rain started they pulled many vendors into the old BB&T Bank (with the drive-through on the corner, a block down from Coney). Stop in for a drink and to see what all the other vendors have! And there are still food trucks throughout town. Dropped pin Near 300 E Independence St, Shamokin, PA 17872 https://maps.app.goo.gl/c3oiMFAzKuFLvB5HA

It's that time of year - the Christmas party for kids with special needs is Saturday, December 7th! Ashley Bray and Marie Day do a fantastic job organizing it - contact them on Facebook if you'd like to donate any food items for the party. Or consider sending a couple bucks their way via GoFundMe to help with toys, etc. https://www.gofundme.com/f/4th-annual-special-needs-christm

SEDA-COG (https://www.facebook.com/pg/sedacog) is a public development organization which serves 11 Central Pennsylvania counties. As part of for the Partnership for Revitalization in Shamokin, they opened a local office at 525 N. Market St. in Shamokin. We provided a catered lunch for 30 people prior to the ribbon cutting at the nearby Antioch Place. From our off-site party lite menu, this included a vegetable display with ranch and spinach artichoke dips, mini sandwiches (roast beef, turkey & cheese, and chicken salad), roasted veggie wraps with hummus, homemade potato salad, chicken caesar salad with parmesan crisps (instead of croutons, which makes it gluten free) and a separate salad without chicken as a vegetarian option, fresh fruit with dip, homemade madeleines with chocolate sauce, and bottled water and a variety of sodas.

THE HOLIDAYS ARE COMING! BOOK YOUR PARTY WITH US TO ENSURE AN ELEGANT AND EFFORTLESS EVENT! Whether it's a full banquet dinner, a less formal party, or a brunch event, we'll do all the work to ensure a very special time. We have a great area set up if you want to bring a Santa to help entertain the children. We can get even fancier (than the attached picture) with table overlays and chair covers. Pick any of our standard menus, or build your own. We can even add items n...ot currently listed, like turkey and ham. We have a full bar, and payment can be handled in a variety of ways - full open bar, open bar for beer and/or wine with guests buying their own mixed drinks, running a tab (for all drinks or just beer and/or wine), guests paying for any of their drinks, etc. We can also mix up a few gallons of a signature drink, such as eggnog, warm spiced wine, etc., and include that in the overall price. We can even bring the party to you with our offsite catering. We'll be adding banquet menus to our current list, and like our onsite catering we can add to the menus just about anything you'd like to have. https://thespringfield.com/pricing-onsite.html